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 Windows OS Hub / Windows 10 / How to Automatically Login to Windows 10 without a Password?

March 10, 2021 Windows 10Windows Server 2016

How to Automatically Login to Windows 10 without a Password?

In order to login to Windows 10, a user has to enter a password for a local or Microsoft (online) account each time. This provides a certain level of device protection against access by third parties, but it is inconvenient for home users as it increases the time to access the device’s desktop. In this guide, we’ll look at how to disable the password sign-in on Windows 10 (Windows Server 2016/2012 R2) Login Screen and how to configure autologin under a specific account.

Most often, automatic login without a password is allowed for devices running in kiosk mode. At any reboot (for example, due to a power outage), Windows will automatically logon to the desktop and start the necessary programs via Autorun.

Warning. Automatic login to Windows is used for user convenience but reduces the security of your computer. Autologon only has to be turned on if you are the only computer user, and you are sure that no one else can get physical access to your device. Otherwise, the safety of your personal data is at risk.

Disabling the password dialog on the Windows 10 Login Screen doesn’t mean that your account should have a blank password. You can configure Windows 10 to automatically use saved credentials to logon to your computer. In all other cases, for example, when accessing your computer via the network (SMB) or connecting to a remote desktop (RDP), you will be prompted for a password.

Contents:
  • How to Disable Windows 10 Login Password via the User Account Settings?
  • Fix: Microsoft Removes User AutoLogin in Windows 10 20H1/20H2
  • How to Turn On Automatic Logon in Windows via the Registry?
  • Disable Password Prompt after Sleep/Hibernation in Windows 10
  • Enable Secure Automatic Logon without a Password Using AutoLogon Tool

disable password login screen on windows 10

How to Disable Windows 10 Login Password via the User Account Settings?

The easiest way to disable password login on Windows 10 is to set the appropriate option in the User Account settings dialog box.

  1. Press Win+R;
  2. In the Run dialog box, enter netplwiz or control userpasswords2 command;netplwiz
  3. In the next window with the list of local user accounts, uncheck the option “User must enter a username and password to use this computer” and save changes (OK); turn off password login on windows 10 - User must enter a username and password to use this computer
  4. A window appears where you have to enter the user account and password (twice) that you need to use for automatic login and click “OK”; set user credentials to automatically login windows
  5. Restart your computer and make sure that the Windows boots directly to the desktop without entering a password.
If you are configuring a passwordless login to a Windows virtual machine running on Hyper-V, don’t use the Enhanced Session Mode to connect to the VM console. In this mode, automatic login with saved credentials doesn’t work because the connection to the Hyper-V console is performed via the Remote Desktop service. To connect to the virtual machine console, not via the Enhanced Session mode, close the connection window by clicking the cross in the upper right corner of the window.

hyper-v Enhanced Session Mode is incompatible with autologin

Fix: Microsoft Removes User AutoLogin in Windows 10 20H1/20H2

Starting with Windows 10 build 2004 (20H1), Microsoft decided to remove the option to configure automatic login for local accounts in the User Control Panel (check the screen below). If you are using a local Windows logon account and not a Microsoft account (MSA), then the “User must enter a username and password to use this computer” option is not displayed.

windows 10 20H2 Netplwiz no longer has auto-login option

To show the option used to disable password login on Windows 10 20H2, open the powershell.exe console and edit the registry:

New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\PasswordLess\Device" -Name DevicePasswordLessBuildVersion -Value 0 -Type Dword –Force

set the DevicePasswordLessBuildVersion registry parameter to enable autologin on windows10 20H2

This registry key value disables the Windows 10 option “Require Windows Hello sign-in for Microsoft accounts” setting. Close and restart the netplwiz console and make sure the checkbox appears.

Thus, you can configure auto login without a password on the latest Windows 10 builds (20H2 and 20H2).

Note. You can’t uncheck the option “User must enter a username and password to use this computer” on the computer joined to the Active Directory domain due to default domain password policy. In this case, the easiest way to disable password request on login screen is through the registry (described below).

How to Turn On Automatic Logon in Windows via the Registry?

Let’s consider a more common way to automatically log into Windows 10 without prompting for a password and skipping the Login Screen. This method allows you to enable password-less sign-in for your Microsoft account, domain account, or Windows 10 local account via the Registry Editor.

Warning. This method of autologin is less secure as your password will be stored in the registry as plain text and can be viewed by any local user.
  1. Press Win+R and type regedit;
  2. Go to the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon;
  3. Change the value of the registry parameter AutoAdminLogon from 0 to 1;
  4. Create a new string parameter DefaultDomainName, specify the domain name or a local computer name as its value.
    Tip. Computer name can be found in System Properties or use the  hostname command.hostname
  5. In the DefaultUserName parameter you need to specify the user account name, which should be used to login (replace it with another username or don’t change it);
  6. Create a string parameter DefaultPassword where you must specify the password for the account in plain text;AutoAdminLogon registry
  7. Close the Registry Editor and restart your computer;
  8. After the Windows restart, you will sign in automatically with the specified account and with no need to enter the password on the login screen.

To enable autologon through the registry, you can use the following commands (replace root and P@ssword with your username and password, WORKGROUP should be replaced with the name of your AD domain if the domain account is used):

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon" /v AutoAdminLogon /t REG_SZ /d 1 /f
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon" /v DefaultUserName /t REG_SZ /d root /f
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon" /v DefaultPassword /t REG_SZ /d P@ssword /f
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon" /v ForceAutoLogon /t REG_SZ /d 1 /f
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon" /v DefaultDomainName /t REG_SZ /d WORKGROUP /f
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon" /v IgnoreShiftOvveride /t REG_SZ /d 1 /f

 

You can use the AutoLogonCount registry option to set the number of times that you can log on to the computer by using AutoLogon.  This value decreases every time you log in to the computer. For example, to allow 10 autologon actions:
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon" /v AutoLogonCount /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Alternatively, you can use a PowerShell script to save the user’s login information to the registry:

$Username ='max'
$Pass = 'Max$uperP@ss'
$RegistryPath = 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon'
Set-ItemProperty $RegistryPath 'AutoAdminLogon' -Value "1" -Type String
Set-ItemProperty $RegistryPath 'DefaultUsername' -Value $Username -type String
Set-ItemProperty $RegistryPath 'DefaultPassword' -Value $Pass -type String
Restart-Computer

Automatic logon does not work if a logon banner policy is applied to the computer Computer Configuration -> Policies -> Windows Settings >Security Settings > Local Policies -> Security Options -> Interactive Logon : Message text for users attempting to log on.

Disable Password Prompt after Sleep/Hibernation in Windows 10

Using GPO, you can turn off the password request when the computer wakes up from sleep or hibernation.

  1. To do this, run the gpedit.msc console (in the home versions of Windows 10, you can run the local policy editor console like this);
  2. Go to the policy section Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System -> Power Management -> Sleep Settings;
  3. Disable the GPO parameters “Require a password when a computer wakes (on battery)” and “Require a password when a computer wakes on battery (plugged in)”;gpo: require password when computer wakes
  4. Now Windows won’t require a password after resuming from sleep or hibernation.

Enable Secure Automatic Logon without a Password Using AutoLogon Tool

For a more secure automatic logon to Windows 10, you can use the free AutoLogon for Windows tool. The utility was part of the Sysinternals system utility pack and is now available for download on the Microsoft website (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autologon). The Autologon is also useful because the previous ways of enabling autologon in Windows 10 may not work on computers that are joined the Active Directory domain.

  1. Download and run Autologon.exe (or autologon64.exe) as an administrator;
  2. Accept the terms of the license agreement; sysinternals autologon tool
  3. Specify the user account, domain and user password under which you want to perform autologin and press the Enable button:
    Autologon successfully configured. The autologon password is encrypted.
  4. A window will appear in which it is indicated that the autologon is enabled. An encrypted password is stored in LSA format under the registry key HKLM\SECURITY\Policy\Secrets. In this case, the password is not stored in clear text, but the encryption algorithm is not strong and any local computer administrator (but not a user) can decrypt it.using sysinternals autologon tool

You can set user credentials to automatically log on to Windows using the Autologon command-line options. To configure Windows autologin for a user, you can use the following command:

autologon64.exe USER_NAME DOMAIN PASSWORD /accepteula

To disable automatic logon to Windows 10 without a password, just click on the Disable button.

In this guide, we looked at how to disable password login on Windows 10 and boot the computer directly to the user’s desktop. In order to temporarily disable automatic logon in Windows and manually specify the user credentials under which you need to sign in, you must hold down the Shift key while Windows is booting.

21 comments
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21 comments

Al Love November 15, 2016 - 10:37 am

Thanks for all the help, problem solved I don’t know exactly how but it is.

Reply
dexter March 27, 2019 - 10:02 pm

show how to log in my right normal enter password.

Reply
admin March 28, 2019 - 5:18 am
  • To temporarily disable Windows autologon and manually input a user credentials under which you need to log in – hold down the Shift key during Windows boot.
  • Reply
    Alex M February 15, 2020 - 5:50 am

    Tried all this except for Regedit – there is no password in my Win 10, nothing to enter. Similarly, Autologon doesn’t work – no password to enter. One local account, one user. Don’t want to create password only to disable it via Autologon – seems illogical. Every time it starts with Login screen, I hit Enter button and I’m in – annoying.
    Oddly, Win 10 doesn’t Log Off when I click on Shut Down link instead of hitting the tactile Power button.
    Any suggestions?

    Reply
    Irwin May 29, 2020 - 2:14 am

    I’m trying to use Policy Plus, but I can’t seem to find the Computer Configuration section. I have tried searching for the text “standby states” and comes up with 0 results. Any suggestions? Thanks.

    Reply
    Andrey Cheremskoy August 2, 2020 - 11:34 am

    It was very useful. Thanks

    Reply
    NMN January 23, 2021 - 5:59 am

    The check box isnt coming. Plz help!!

    Reply
    xxx March 18, 2021 - 10:26 pm

    Same :((

    Reply
    NZ March 30, 2021 - 10:16 am

    on the search type powershell, then Run As Administrator. Paste there:

    New-ItemProperty -Path “HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\PasswordLess\Device” -Name DevicePasswordLessBuildVersion -Value 0 -Type Dword –Force

    then reopen the netplwiz

    Reply
    Jose June 25, 2021 - 10:36 pm

    Dude, you’re the man! I looked everywhere. Your advice was straight to the point, simple and easy to follow!

    Reply
    jelly August 25, 2022 - 5:07 pm

    really helpful thanks yo!

    Reply
    glnz March 11, 2021 - 5:21 am

    My Won 10- Pro 64-bit machine has always been “Local Account” (not “Microsoft Account”) and has never required a password to log on. That’s how I set it up originally.
    However, an HP Printer-Scanner will not scan to a folder on this Win 10 PC as a target of “Scan to Network Folder” using SMB 2 or 3 unless the Win 10 PC requires a password to log on. The HP WILL scan to a Win 10 network folder if both the PC and the HP printer are set to use SMB 1.
    Thoughts about this?
    Thanks.

    Reply
    Shlomi March 13, 2021 - 7:11 pm

    Thank you for the lovely post. very helpful and clear!
    you are the best

    Reply
    Haldi March 18, 2021 - 12:35 pm

    THANK YOU!
    For being the only homepage that has a fix for the 20H2 Update which removes the simple Tickbox in Netplwiz

    Reply
    MSEatSh1t April 25, 2021 - 5:09 am

    WINTURDS Version 10.0.18363 Build 18363

    My PC used to only require logon at boot, never after sleep. I stupidly installed the Teams POS, which completely fucked the situation and now I have to enter a goddamn password at boot, at wake and after the display turns off. Been f*cking with this goddamn sh1t for two days.

    After carefully typing in the registry settings to enable passwordless logon, then close regedit, then restart the PC, the new settings are erased. Did this twice on this goddamned POS OS.

    Also carefully added the PasswordLess stuff, which has no effect either.

    Reply
    Shan Huang June 9, 2021 - 6:48 am

    THANK YOU! But I think:
    The path is “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\PasswordLess\Device”
    not “HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\PasswordLess\Device”

    Reply
    Stephen August 7, 2021 - 9:22 pm

    Yes! Yes! Yes! All those tweaks got rid of all the annoyances of logging in. Didn’t have the checkmark box, fixed. Didn’t want the lock screen, fixed. Didn’t want a password screen, fixed. Now I can cold boot or come out of hibernation directly to the desktop screen.

    Reply
    Torn December 13, 2021 - 8:16 am

    It won’t work on second restart, because this “genius” put AutoLogonCount to 1, meaning autologon will reset after 1 use.
    Just use official docs https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/user-profiles-and-logon/turn-on-automatic-logon

    Reply
    codeDev March 12, 2022 - 1:01 am

    Hello team i administer a Windows 2016 Virtual server, i’m new and i think i’m getting the hang of it. I need help because apparently when i try to manage user accounts, the dialog shows up and then disappears. i also run the command netplwiz and it still did the same. I also run the sfc /scannow and it was able to fix some issues. I honestly thought it was fixed after the reboot but still either via the CMD or clicking “Manage User Accounts”, the dialog shows up and then disappears. Any help to assist would be great.

    Reply
    Mikal January 4, 2023 - 2:36 am

    Thank you so much, you give the safe path.

    Reply
    Mikal January 4, 2023 - 2:37 am

    Tested on Win10 22H2 Pro.

    Reply

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